Probing Inflationary Cosmology with CLASS

萨拉·玛丽·布鲁诺被授予美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，负责约翰·霍普金斯大学的一项研究和教育项目。布鲁诺将为宇宙学大角度比例测量者(CLASS)望远镜阵列开发新的仪器，以极大地提高其灵敏度。这些改进将使得能够在大角度尺度上灵敏地测量宇宙微波背景(CMB)偏振，从而允许对早期宇宙的宇宙学模型进行严格的测试。布鲁诺还将为物理领域的女性、初中生和科学政策制定者开展一项教育和推广计划。布鲁诺将领导开发两个新的探测器阵列，以提高班级对CMB偏振测量中B模的灵敏度。探测到CMB中的B模将表明引力波的量子起源，这将有力地支持暴涨理论。布鲁诺还将为物理学领域的早期女性建立一个同行指导小组，为初中生和高中生开发现代科学教育模块，并提供科学建议，为新兴技术的政策倡议提供信息。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Sarah Marie Bruno is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct a program of research and education at Johns Hopkins University. Bruno will develop new instrumentation for the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) telescope array to greatly enhance its sensitivity. The enhancements will enable sensitive measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization at large angular scales, allowing stringent tests of cosmological models of the early Universe. Bruno will also conduct a program of education and outreach for women in physics, middle and high school students, and science policy makers.Bruno will lead the development of two new detector arrays to increase the sensitivity of CLASS to B-modes in CMB polarization measurements. Detection of B-modes in the CMB would indicate a quantum origin for gravitational waves, and it would strongly support the theory of inflation. Bruno will also establish a peer mentoring group for early-career women in physics, develop modern science educational modules for middle and high school students, and provide scientific advice to inform policy initiatives on emerging technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.